LI'L CAP'N TRAVIS
...In All Their Splendor (Glurp)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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It's summer and I haven't had my first bite of fire seared bratwurst, but it is coming soon; with a burgeoning front of beautiful weather, I can taste them in tandem as they draw nearer. I'll also require a new selection of stoned, lazy country blues to keep my guests from dwelling too heavily on the fact that I'm an amateur cooking outdoors and my sausages often end up resembling fat black crayons.

I may not man the Weber well, but I can pick country blues with the best of them, and Li'l Cap'n Travis' album "...In All Their Splendor" seems written specifically for drinking beer from a can and sitting outside. The thirteen songs range widely from Wilco boot stomping effigies like "Throw off the Reins" to Beck folk, puzzling tongue in cheek and whiskey drunk. All day beach dreaming drives "Steady as She Goes", the album's opener, and it sets a carefree mood that prevails throughout the disc. On "3.2 Beer of Love" triumphant, tom-foolery and pedal steel guitars complete the summer cycle so mournfully, even listening during mid-day a splendid theater of nightfall feels imminent.

Although there are moments of folly - some of the songs lean too heavily on cheap plays, like "Natural Fool" and its forced chime arrangement - the boys from Li'l Cap'n Travis sound like well honed professionals, just coming into their time of the season.

© 2004 - Erick Mertz